With so much attention being paid to the top free agents in the NBA, I have been paying closer attention to the lower rungs on the ladder. That is because those are the only players that the Pistons will have a shot at landing.

With Detroit already at the salary cap, Joe Dumars has only the Mid-Level Exception ($5.854 million) and the Bi-Annual Exception ($2.08 million) with which to sign players.

To put into perspective exactly what type of player you can get with those kinds of contracts, just look at a couple of former Pistons: Darko Milicic and Amir Johnson.

Milicic has averaged 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in his career. In 32 games split between the Knicks and Timberwolves last season, Milicic played 30 or more minutes only seven times, and had exactly two double-doubles. His averages did skyrocket last season, though, with Darko scoring 6.7 points and grabbing 4.7 boards per game. That earned him a four year, $20 million dollar deal to return to Minnesota. $16 million of that is guaranteed.

Johnson's career stats have him at 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He did play in every game for Toronto last season, where he averaged 17.7 minutes, 6.2 points and 4.7 boards. That explosion got the Raptors to bring him back for five years and $34 million.

So Darko will get paid $5 million per year, while Amir gets $6.8 million per season. These are guys that Dumars and Piston fans alike could not wait to get out of town, and they have proven nothing since leaving Michigan to say it was a mistake to get rid of them.

That being said, the player Detroit might be able to land with the Mid-Level will be a little better than Milicic and about 85-percent of the player Johnson has become. Wow. That has impact written all over it. Now try to imagine who will come to The D for the Bi-Annual. Gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?

The Pistons have been in touch with Dallas center Brendan Haywood and Orlando forward Matt Barnes. Haywood is a seven-footer who averaged 9.1 points and 9.3 rebounds last season. Barnes was an 8.8 points, 5.5 rebounds guy, and is a very good step-out defender. If Milicic and Johnson can get those hefty contracts, there is no way the Pistons will be able to afford Haywood or Barnes.

With all the excess cap space available to the rest of the Association, it is not even worth the time for Dumars to go looking for players who would accept the exceptions. They will be a waste of money, especially if the only way to land them is with multi-year deals. Dumars should just re-sign Will Bynum and Ben Wallace for next year, wait for Tayshaun Prince's exorbitant salary to fall of the books, and see who might be available next off-season when this feeding frenzy has gone away.

What that will mean is another disappointing, sub-par season for the Pistons. Of course, if all they can get this year is a player somewhere between Darko and Amir, that wouldn't change next year's outcome anyway.